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One of the main reasons I gained the freshman fifteen is because of the amount of food I can eat. When I was little, I was always proud of the fact that I was a “good eater.” My dad would make me finish all of the food on my plate before I left the table and soon it just became a habit. I started eating more and more and thankfully my metabolism kept me from gaining weight.
When I say I ate a lot, I mean a lot. There was a point in time (this is so embarrassing) that I would order two jumbo hot dogs, a large cheese fries and half a loaf of bread from Portillo’s every time I went there — and I’m pretty sure I was only 10 years old. As part of an eating contest, I once ate 25 chicken nuggets from Wendy’s in under five minutes. My freshman year, I ate six tacos from Chipotle in one sitting and thought that it was totally fine. Being full made me happy and I was still thin, so it was okay, right? Not really.
Once my metabolism slowed down, I quickly realized that it wasn’t okay to eat until I was uncomfortably full. However, old habits die hard and if something is delicious, I still have a hard time putting the fork down.
I think one of the reasons I’ve already seen so much success with this diet is because of the portion sizes it recommends — you know, appropriate ones.
Here are a couple things I’ve been doing to make sure I’m controlling my portions:
1. Measuring my portions. Rather than estimating how much food I’m eating, I use measuring utensils while serving myself so I know exactly how much food I’m eating. Most people have a tendency of under estimating their food intake, so measuring helps prevent this.
2. Estimating when I have to. For things like chicken or fish, it is a little harder since I don’t have a way of measuring exactly how many ounces I’m eating. Or, when I’m out to eat, I can’t exactly ask the waiter to bring out a measuring cup. So, I must estimate. The best way to do this is to compare the food to objects. According to ehow.com, most servings of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand. One cup of food can be compared to about the size of a baseball. As you actually measure out your food more, estimating will become easier.Â
3. Putting food away right after serving myself. Once I finish measuring out my food, I put it away immediately. This helps keeping me from going back and getting more. I will also clear my plate once I know I am full. If I am full, but it is still staring me in the face looking delicious, I’m likely to keep eating even though I know I shouldn’t. I’m testing the whole out of sight, out of mind theory by putting the food away and it actually works sometimes.
4. Eating slower. Not only do I have a tendency to eat a lot, but I also eat it fast. It takes a little while for fullness to set in, so by eating too fast I’m eating more than necessary without even realizing it. One trick I’ve been trying is to finish chewing before I put another bite on my fork or in my hand. I still have to work pretty hard to slow down, but so far I’m doing okay. Someday I will tell the story of my only ever 2nd place finish in a two-person speed-eating competition — still bitter — but now is not the time.
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So I guess I’m not the next Takeru Kobayashi,
Samantha